Fellow Sharp Shooters,

In the August 31, 2013 installment of Tales of the Army of the Potomac, Dr. Timothy Orr presents an amusing tale about 2nd USSS Adjutant Lewis Parmalee. Lewis was born into a well established Connecticut family, and grew into an intelligent and adventurous young man, (a common trait I’ve discovered among the USSS officer and NCO corps); graduating from Scotland’s esteemed Edinburgh University. Before the War, Private Parmalee, along with fellow future USSS officers, William W. Winthrop and Edward Hastings, served in New York City’s 7th NY State Militia. Parmalee’s ‘horse obsession’ was based on an officer’s status, at least among his fellow officers, was to be mounted on a horse that was almost as expensive as his salary.

The Maine boys of Company D had become tired of hearing Adjutant Parmalee brag about the excellent qualities of (as yet unseen) the horse he’d purchased, and his impatience waiting for its arrival to camp. One day the boys finally had an opportunity to play a practical joke on their “puffed up” adjutant.

I will let Dr. Orr describe the hilarious exploit between Adjutant Parmalee, a broken down horse, and the jokesters of Company D. Unfortunately for the enlisted men, Lt. Parmalee had the last laugh, and the satisfaction of turning their joke into miserable “extra duty”.

Unfortunately, we don’t know if Lewis Parmalee’s long awaited horse ever arrived before the 2nd USSS began active campaigning. There is no mention among surviving 2nd USSS officer accounts if one of them purchased Parmalee's horse following his death. A number of USSS officers had horses killed in action (Berdan, Nash, Aschmann, etc). It was common for personal items, not sent home to family, to be sold off to fellow officers.

Unfortunately, on September 17, 1862, Adjutant Parmalee, at the moment of personal triumph, lost his life during the Battle of Antietam. Parmalee was buried where he fell, near the fence along Hagerstown Pike. His personal effects were recovered by regimental quartermaster William Shreve and turned over to Lewis’ bereaved father, who arrived on the field a few days after the battle to retrieve his son's body. However, even in death, Lewis Parmalee would be the subject of one final act of drama, as to where his final resting place would be.

Here is the link to Dr. Orr's article: http://talesfromaop.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-kingdom-for-horse.html?m=1

A portion of Parmalee's personal effects survive to the present day; his U.S. Infantry and Rifle Tactics and Handbook for Active Service were offered for sale at Gettysburg’s Horse Soldier collectibles shop: https://www.horsesoldier.com/products/identified-items/47426. I posted an earlier account (Oct 2, 2018), entitled; "We mourn the loss of a true friend" about of the discovery and purchase of Parmalee's books from a bookstore in Louisiana, that was subsequently destroyed a few months later by Hurricane Katrina.

Bill Skillman
Berdan Sharpshooters Survivors Association